Carpet display device



Nov. 26, 1968 e. 1.. REIGLER E AL 3,412,435

CARPET DISPLAY DEVICE Filed Aug. 22, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Guy L.Reig/er William J. Hartley INVENTORS.

United States Patent Ofice 3,412,485 CARPET DISPLAY DEVICE Guy L.Reigler and William J. Hartley, New York, N.Y., assignors to ThomasPride Mills, Inc., a corporation of New York Filed Aug. 22, 1966, Ser.No. 574,019 10 Claims. (Cl. 35-55) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A carpetsample display device including a structure for supporting carpetsamples in observable position and illumination devices selectivelyactuated for illuminating the carpet samples with various types ofilluminations.

This invention generally appertains to improvements in display devices,which are used in showrooms and in wholesale and retail stores orestablishments for the purpose of displaying samples and moreparticularly relates to novel improvements in display devices fordisplaying swatches or samples of material, particularly carpeting, foruse in the furnishing of the interior of a building.

It is extremely difficult to display carpets in a manner so that theywill be visually attractive to customers and have the desiredpsychological impact on the customers whereby the customers will, firstof all, be attracted from a distance to the carpets and then, secondly,and most importantly, be able to examine a wide range of carpets ofdifferent texture, colors and designs in a manner so that they canappreciate the qualities of the carpets and make a judicious selectionof a particular pattern and color, based upon a complete realization ofhow the carpet will appear under all lighting conditions and how it willappear in relation to various room settings.

An important object of the present invention is to provide a displaydevice for displaying samples or swatches of carpets in an extremelyattractive manner, so that a number of samples can be disposed, in avery attractive arrangement, from a visual and psychological standpoint,whereby a potential customer will be attracted to the display from adistance and, having had his attention focused thereon, will becomepsychologically interested so as to approach the display for a closerexamination of carpet samples, with respect to the construction andpattern and color qualities of the carpets.

In line with the foregoing, another important object of the presentinvention is to provide a display device, which will display any numberof swatches or samples of carpets under all lighting conditions uponcloser inspection of the display arrangement by the potential customerso that, after the customer is drawn to the display arrangement, thecustomer can visually inspect various samples or swatches under threedifferent types of lighting elfects, namely, daylight, incandescent andfluorescent. In this respect, each of such lighting effects has adistinctive effect on the coloring of the carpet, actually altering thetone appreciably from one to the other and, therefore, the customer willbe able to visualize how the carpet will look when installed in a room,wherein such lighting effects would be present at various times.

A further important object of the present invention is to provide adisplay device for carpets whereby the customer not only can examine acarpet sample to determine the texture, durability and wearability ofthe entire carpet but also to have a clear and exact visual indication,from such examination of a sample or swatch, of how the carpet will lookunder the different types of lighting effects and also to have a rathergeneral visual indication of how the carpet will appear in associationwith various room settings.

3,412,485 Patented Nov. 26, 1968 Thus, a most comprehensive object ofthe present invention is to provide a carpet display device that willattract the attention of a potential customer, standing at a distancetherefrom so as to draw the customer closer to the displayed carpetsamples for a closer inspection thereof and to permit the customer,during such inspection, to obtain a clear and exact visual realizationof how selected carpets will look under all lighting conditions and howselected carpets will look in connection with various room settings.Therefore, the display device of the present invention functions, from apsychological standpoint, to serve as an attractive, eye catcher forgaining the attention of a potential customer so as to draw the customercloser to the samples for a close physical examination thereof and toenable, during such close physical examination, the customer to realize,from an examination only of a swatch or sample, as to how the completecarpet, when installed with any given room setting and under anylighting conditions, will appear, thereby permitting the customer tomake a judicious, positive and self-satisfying selection of a particularcarpet.

An important feature of the present invention is to provide a displaydevice, which includes a vertical housing, mounted on a compartmentedstorage chest or the like, which has an attractive appearance and toprovide a horizontally disposed panel which serves as the top wall ofthe housing and which overlies the top of the storage device and on theunderside of which are disposed at plurality of parallel rails ortracks, from which carpet samples are vertically suspended by means ofsupports that are slidably mounted on the tracks or rails so that thevertically suspended carpet samples can be extended into variousgroupings on opposite sides of the housing and can be moved intounexposed positions, in a collective bundle, behind the housing. Thesamples, by means of removable attached supports or runners, areslidably suspended from the tracks or rails, with the carpet samplesbeing completely removable from the supports or runners whereby a carpetsample may be laid on the floor surface, adjacent the display device, sothat a potential customer can walk thereon and otherwise, physically andvisually inspect the sample, in a floor position that the complete laidcarpet would be disposed.

In line with the foregoing, another important feature of the presentinvention is to provide a runner construction for slidable engagementwith the rails or tracks, the runner construction being provided withmeans for releasably supporting an elongated section of a carpet,whereby a sample of one carpet can be removed from a runner and a sampleof another carpet, which is different in design, color or the likevisual aspects and different in quality and texture aspects, can beattached thereto as a replacement for display purposes.

Another important feature of construction of the present inventionresides in the provision of a vertical opening in the front wall of thehousing, with a display partition being disposed transversely in thehousing at the lower end of the opening and on which a swatch or sampleof a carpet can be superimposed with a lighting means arranged in thehousing and housed thereby in a position overlying the carpet sample orswatch on the display partition, with the rays from the illuminationmeans being cast downwardly directly onto the carpet swatch and over theentire surface thereof, the illumination means including a firstincandescent illumination member, a second fluorescent illuminationmember and a third daylight illumination member, said members beinggrouped together within the housing and arranged so that illuminationrays therefrom are cast directly upon the sample with means beingprovided and being disposed in a position, easily accessible by acustomer standing in front of and gazing upon a sample, for selectivelycontrolling the operation of said illumination members so that theillumination means visually indicates how the colors of the carpetsample will look under incandescent, fluorescent and daylight lightingeffects, whereby the purchaser can obtain a clear visual indication fromthe thusly illuminated samples of how a particular carpet will lookunder such lighting effects when the carpet is installed. Each of theillumination members has a distinctive effect on the coloring of thecarpet sample, actually altering the toning appreciably from one to theother and the overall effect, from a psychological standpoint, will beto give the potential customer a definite realization and appreciationof the tonal qualities of the carpet when it is installed.

A still further important feature of he present invention resides in theprovision of visual effect means on the front wall of the housing, abovethe display partition, which visual effect means is in the nature of aholder for a photographic transparency of any room setting withcarpeting installed therein, illumination means being housed in thehousing behind the photographic .transparency and the holder beingconstructed so that any number of photographic transparencies, depictingany number of room settings, can be positioned in place on the frontwall of the housing.

Another important object of the present invention is to provide a veryattractive, compact, inexpensive and most effective and efiicientdisplay device for carpet samples or swatches.

These together with other objects and advantages which will becomesubsequently apparent reside in the details of construction andoperation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, whereinlike numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a carpet display device constructed inaccordance with the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a vertical, cross-sectional view taken substantially on theline 2-2 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a detailed, fragmentary vertical sectional view of thehousing, showing in elevation the illumination means for achieving thevarious lighting effects on a carpet sample and for illuminating thephotographic transparency;

FIGURE 4 is a detailed, transverse sectional view taken on the line 44of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 5 is a detailed, transverse sectional view, taken on the line S5of FIGURE 1; and,

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged fragmentary elevational View illustrating themanner of detachably securing one of the carpet samples to the runner orsupport, which is slidably mounted in the overhead track or rail.

Referring now more particularly to the accompanying drawings, thedisplay device 10 is particularly intended for use in attractively andeffectively displaying samples of carpet but, while this is thepreferred environmental use of the device and the same has been shown insuch environment in the drawings and will be described hereinafter insuch environmental use, it is to be understood that the display device10 can be used in connection with the displaying of samples of anycommercial product, wherein the special attributes and features ofconstruction of the display device 10 would be of significant value inthe displaying of such products.

The display device 10 comprises a housing 12, which is verticallyorientated and is composed of a vertical back or rear wall 14,vertically disposed side walls 16 and 13, which are in spaced opposingrelation, and a front wall 20.

The housing 12 has a top wall 22, which is of substantial length and issubstantially rectangular in plan view. The top wall 22 has a front edgeportion 24, which overlies or extends beyond the front wall 20 of thehousing 12, with the housing being disposed substantially centrally ofthe top wall 22. The top wall 22 is joined, at its rear edge 26, to avertical back wall 28, which is coextensive in length with the top wall22, the top and back walls 22 and 28 being disposed in right angularrelationship, with the housing 12 being disposed substantially centrallyof the top and bottom walls, which are coextensive in length, as can beappreciated from a consideration of FIGURE 1.

The rear wall 28 has a lower end portion 28a, which forms the back wallfor a compartmented chest 30, having sliding drawers 32, for a purposeto be described, and having a flat counter or table top 34, the latterunderlying the top wall 24 and having a projecting front end edge 36,which extends beyond the front wall 20 of the housing 12 and extendsslightly beyond the outer edge 24 of the horizontal top wall 22.

The housing 12 is disposed vertically between the counter or table top34 and the top wall 22 and the rear wall 14 thereof is spaced outwardlyfrom the rear wall 28 of the overall device 10. The inner surface of therear wall 28 may be lined with a decorative and absorbent panel 38,formed from asbestos or the like, and the outer or rear surface of therear wall 14 of the houing 12 is likewise lined with an asbestos panel40, the panel linings being provided for absorbent, decorative purposesand for protective purposes with regard to the heat generated by theassorted illumination means to be described.

The undersnrface 22a of the top wall 22 is formed with a plurality ofparallel rails or tracks 42, each of which is of channel-shapedconstruction and has a slotted bottom surface 44. The tracks or rails 42extend substantially the full length of the top wall 22 and are arrangedin parallel, slightly spaced relation between the rear wall 14 of thehousing 12 and the inner surface of the rear wall 28 of the displaydevice 10. The number and spacing of the rails or tracks is dependentupon the distance between the housing 12 and the back wall 28 and thenumber illustrated in FIGURES 1 and 2 is merely for exemplary purposes.

A plurality of elongated samples or swatches 46 of carpet are adapted tobe suspended from the rails or tracks 42 and are adapted to be movedinwardly and outwardly relative to the housing 12, so that they can bepositioned in extended, overlapping display relationship, as shown inFIGURE 1. Also, when desired, they can be moved inwardly so that theywill lie substantially behind the housing 12. The samples 46 are ofsubstantially elongated formations and each has a vertical dimensionthat proximates the distance between the counter top 34 and theundersurface 22a of the top wall 22. Thus, the samples are rathernarrow, though there is no restriction on the particular size or shapebut it is believed that, if the panels span the distance between the topwall 24 and the counter 34, and are of a width so that they can beextended in staggered, overlapping relationship, they will present amuch more attractive and eye catching appearance.

Means is provided for slidably mounting the upper edge 46a of each ofthe samples on a selected rail or track 42, Thus, as shown in FIGURES 2and 6, T-shaped carriers or runners 48 are provided and are slidablymounted in the rails or tracks, the head portions 48a being slidablydisposed within the channel-shaped tracks or rails and the leg portions48b extending through the slots in the undersurface 44 of each rail ortrack and depending therefrom, The leg portions 48b have front faces 50,which are provided with permanently attached connecting strips 52, thestrips being very narrow and elongated and extending the full length ofthe slide or runner 50. One type strip that may be used is that which iswell known commercially under the trade name Velcro. A cooperatingconnecting strip 54 is attached to the rear face of the upper edge 46aof each sample 46, whereby the samples are releasably fastened to therunners or glides and are securely fastened thereto, along the entireupper edges thereof, whereby they may be dependably suspended from therunners or glides. It can be appreciated that, with such type ofreleasable fastening means, the samples can be easily removed from therunners or glides to observe them on the floor and replacement samplescan be attached to the runners or glides.

As can be appreciated from a consideration of FIG- URE 2, the dependingleg portions 48b of the runners or glides 48 are spaced apart, so thatthe carpet samples 46 can move, relative to each other, without anyinterference, and so that the carpet samples can be separately grippedand moved inwardly and outwardly or can be collectively moved.

As afore generally expressed, one of the primary purposes of the presentinvention is to display the carpet samples 46 in such a manner that thepotential customer can view the samples from a distance and be drawn,through psychological impulse, due to the attractive displayarrangement, to a closer examination of the carpet samples 46.

Accordingly, dome lights 56 and 58 are mounted in the top wall 22 andare disposed on opposite sides of the vertical housing 12 and positionedin line with the side walls of the housing, as shown in FIGURE 2,whereby they are disposed in advance of the extended samples 46, as canbe appreciated from a consideration of FIGURES 1 and 2. The dome lights56 and 58 include conventional light bulbs 60, which are encased indome-like housings 62, the latter being removably secured in suitablevertical openings 46 formed in the top wall, with cover or filter plates66 being provided and closing off the openings 64 so that the light raysfrom the light bulbs 60 are softly diffused downwardly and cast evenlyover the exposed faces of the vertically disposed and overlappingsamples 46.

Means is provided and structurally associated with the housing 12whereby a selected sample or selected samples or swatches of carpet maybe more closely viewed by a customer and, more especially, may be viewedunder all lighting conditions or variable lighting circumstances. Themeans, generally designated by the reference numeral 68, includes theprovision of a vertical opening 70 in the front wall of the housing. Adisplay partition 72 is transversely mounted within the housing anddisposed between the side walls 16 and 18 and extends from the frontwall through the opening 70 at the lower square end edge 74 of theopening. The display partition 72 projects beyond the outer surface ofthe front wall 20 and terminates in an upstanding retaining ledge or rib76. The partition 72 is disposed in a downwardly and outwardly inclinedor sloped position between the side walls, so that its outer end extendsoutwardly and downwardly beyond the front wall 20.

The projecting forward portion of the partition 72, inwardly of theledge 76 is formed with vertical openings 78, adjacent the side edges ofthe partition, to receive removable retaining binder loops 80, whichhold together a number of substantially rectangular swatches 82 ofcarpet, as shown in FIGURES 1 and 2. The swatches 82 are superimposed onthe inclined upper surface 84 of the display partition and are securedto the partition by the binding loops 80. The draws 32 are utilized tohouse additional binders 86, as shown in FIGURE 2, the loops 80 havingconventional locking means, whereby they can be opened to be attached tothe display partition or to remove or insert other swatches 82.

Illumination means 88 is provided for casting rays of daylight,incandescent and fluorescent lighting effects on the swatches 82, asthey are exposed on the display partition 72, as shown in FIGURE 2. Theillumination means 88, as shown more particularly in FIGURE 3, comprisesa daylight light bulb 90, which is screwed into a retaining andelectrically conductive socket 92 that is anchored by a bracket 94 tothe inner surface of the rear wall 14 of the housing. An incandescentlight bulb 96 is removably screwed into a socket 98 which is fixed by abracket 100 to the rear inner surface of the rear wall 14, the socketsand brackets being coplanar, as shown in FIG- URE 3, so that the bulbs90 and 96 are positioned at the same vertical distance above the uppersurface 84 of the display partition 72. An annular fluorescent lighttube 102 is interposed between the bulbs and 96 and is held in place byan anchoring means 104 and attached to a socket 106. The tube 102 isdisposed at substantially the same height as the height of the bulbs 90and 96.

Conductor leads 108, from the socket 92, leads from the socket 98 andleads 112 from the socket 106 are collectively assembled together andattached to a three-way switch 114, which is mounted on a flat reflectorpanel 116 that extends below the arcuate upper edge 118 of the verticalopening 70 in the front wall 20 of the housing 12. The switch 114 is ofconventional construction and is connected with a suitable source ofelectrical energy, in any conventional fashion. The switch is actuatedby a rotatable shaft 118 that has an insulated knob 120 provided on itsouter end and disposed in front of the panel 116 in a very readilyaccessible position so that a customer can actuate the switch with onehand, while flipping the swatches 82 with the other hand.

The actuation of the switch 114 permits the exposed swatch, such as theswatch 82a, in FIGURE 2, to be illuminated with light rays from thedaylight illumination means 90, incandescent illumination means 96, andfluorescent illumination means 102, each of these illumination means orlighting means having a distinctive effect on the coloring of the swatch82a, actually altering the toning thereof appreciably from one color tothe other.

In association with the visual inspection of the swatches 82, under theselective lighting conditions for appreciating the tonal qualities ofthe swatches, means is provided, whereby the customer can, at the sametime, have a visual appreciation of how the carpet will appear invarious room settings. For this purpose, a frame 122 is mounted on theouter surface of the front wall 12 and surrounds an opening 124 formedtherein. The frame is adapted to slidably receive and retain aphotographic transparency 126 of any room setting. The transparency isilluminated by a light source 128, which includes a conventional lightbulb 130 mounted in a socket 132 that is fixed on a transverse wall 134in the housing 12. The partition wall 134, with the pertinent portionsof the front, side, rear and top walls, defines a housing 136 for theillumination means 128, with the rear wall being provided with openings138 in the housing 136 for the dissipation of heat rays from the bulb130. Of course, the top wall, above the housing, could also be providedwith suitable vent openings.

' The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles ofthe invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes willreadily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limitthe invention to the exact construction and operation shown anddescribed, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalentsmay be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention asclaimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A display device particularly for displaying samples of carpetmaterial; said device comprising a vertical housing having a front wallformed with a vertical opening, a display partition providedtransversely in the housing and disposed adjacent the lower end of theopening, means for positioning a carpet sample on the display partitionin a manner so that the upper surface of the carpet sample is visible,illumination means positioned in the housing above the opening in thefront wall and disposed above the display partition so that light raysemanating from the illumination means will be cast evenly over the uppersurface of a carpet sample disposed on the partition, said illuminationmeans including a first incandescent illumination member, a secondfluorescent illumination member and a third daylight illuminationmember, said illumination members being grouped and arranged togetherwithin the housing and means accessible exteriorly of the front wall ofthe housing and selectively controlling the operation of saidillumination members.

2. The invention of claim 1, and including means binding a number ofsamples together and said means for positioning a carpet sample on thedisplay partition including said binding means and the provision ofmeans on the display partition removably receiving said binding means.

3. The invention of claim 1, wherein said last means includes athree-way switch rotatably positioned on the housing and electricallyconnected to the illumination members.

4. The invention of claim 1, wherein said device includes a top walloverlying the housing and extending outwardly from opposing sides of thehousing and rearwardly thereof, track means mounted on the underside ofthe top wall, runner means connected to carpet samples, said runnermeans being slidable in the track means.

5. The invention of claim 4 and illumination means carried by the topwall on opposite sides of the housing for casting light rays over carpetsamples hanging in slidable fashion from the underside of the top Wall.

6. The invention of claim 4 and including means releasably attachingsaid carpet samples to the runner means.

7. The invention of claim 4, wherein said runner means includes asubstantially T-shaped glide member having its head portion slidablymounted on the track means and releasable cooperative fastening stripson the leg portion of each glide member and on the carpet samples.

8. The invention of claim 4, wherein said device further includes amultidrawer chest having a counter top underlying the top wall with thehousing mounted substantially centrally between the top wall and thecounter top.

9. The invention of claim 4, wherein said device further includes amultidrawer chest having a counter top underlying the top wall with thehousing mounted substantially centrally between the top wall and thecounter top, and said housing having a rear wall spaced outwardly fromsaid rear wall of the device with the track means including paralleltracks disposed between the rear walls and extending substantially thefull length of the top wall.

10. The invention of claim 1, wherein said housing is formed with anillumination chamber above the illumination means, said chamber havingan opening formed through the front wall of the housing, and holdermeans for photographic transparencies surrounding the chamber opening.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,085,180 6/1937 Bevis 35592,828,554 4/1958 Harris 35-53 3,135,058 6/1964 Haas et al. 35533,205,594 9/1965 Gilbert 35-53 EUGENE R. CAPOZIO, Primary Examiner.

H. S. SKOGQUIST, Assistant Examiner.

